The successful smallpox eradication campaign had the fundamental contribution of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), primarily responsible for vaccine production in Brazil. However, the institution's third quarter-century was also marked by the military dictatorship's attack on science, with the dismissal of ten researchers. A new institutional phase began with the creation of the Fiocruz, who served on public health agencies. Learn more about these historic milestones in the third report of the special series. Timeline: IOC 125 years, which covers the years from 1950 to 1975.
Records of the vaccination campaign that mobilized the country: a woman being vaccinated in São Luís, Maranhão, and a crowd gathered for immunization in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, in 1970. Photos: COC/F Collectioniocruz. Art: João Veras
Smallpox was the first disease to be eradicated on the planet and, to this day, the only one. In Brazil, IOC was largely responsible for producing the vaccine against the disease. The vaccine was an old product, manufactured in the country since the times of the Vaccine Institute, owned by Baron Pedro Affonso, the first director of the IOC. However, production needed to be modernized to cope with the national mass vaccination campaign.
With new equipment purchased through an agreement with PAHO and techniques improved based on experiences from other countries and local research, the IOC began to have two vaccine production lines, using calves and eggs. Field tests confirmed that the products prepared by the Institute were as effective as those from the United States. In nine years, from 1962 to 1971, the IOC produced around 200 million doses of the vaccine. Smallpox was eradicated in Brazil in 1971 and declared globally eradicated in 1980.
Newspapers report on the dismissal of researchers from IOC and the mobilization in favor of scientists, brought together by researcher Herman Lent, author of the book 'The Massacre of Manguinhos'. Photo: COC/F Collectioniocruz. Art: João Veras
On April 1, 1970, based on Institutional Act No. 5 (AI-5), eight researchers from IOC had their political rights revoked by the Military Dictatorship. On April 6, the decree that determined the retirement of the scientists included two more names in the group, bringing the total number of people affected by the 'Manguinhos massacre' to ten.
The following were dismissed: Augusto Perissé, Domingos Arthur Machado, Fernando Braga Ubatuba, Haity Moussatché, Herman Lent, Hugo de Souza Lopes, Masao Goto, Moacyr Vaz de Andrade, Sebastião José de Oliveira and Tito Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti.
O IOC lost 14% of its research staff. What's more, the scientists who were dismissed were leaders of research groups, with over 20 or 30 years of experience. Political persecution extinguished lines of study, affected student training and dismantled biological collections, plunging the IOC in a deep institutional and financial crisis. The episode became known as 'Manguinhos massacre', a term coined by Herman Lent in the book of the same name, released in 1978.
The dismissal of researchers from IOC It took place in a context of attacks by the military dictatorship on science, which included arrests, exiles and the dismantling of universities and scientific institutions. The National Truth Commission estimates that between 800 and XNUMX researchers were persecuted by the regime.
Also known as Castle of Fiocruz, the Moorish Pavilion became the symbol of the institution. Photo: Peter Ilicciev/FiocRuz Images. Art: João Veras
On May 22, 1970, the Human Resources Foundation for Health was transformed into the Oswaldo Cruz Institute Foundation (Fiocruz). The new institution brought together several bodies of the Ministry of Health: the IOC, considered as cellula mater from Fiocruz; the Prophylactic Products Service and the Fernandes Figueira, Evandro Chagas, Leprology and National Rural Endemic Institutes. In 1974, the institution was renamed Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (keeping the acronym Fiocruz).
Initially marked by a lack of resources, the institution's scenario began to change in the second half of the decade, when the meningitis epidemic made clear the country's vulnerability in public health and a new science and technology policy was initiated, which placed the recovery of Manguinhos as a priority.
The following years were marked by the resurgence of science, the return of democracy, and a central role in addressing new public health challenges, such as the arrival of dengue fever and HIV in Brazil. Check it out in next report from the special series 'Timeline: IOC 125 years'.
:: See the main ones bibliographical references consulted for the production of the reports.
Check out other articles about the 125th anniversary of IOC na special page of the Silver Secular Jubilee.
The successful smallpox eradication campaign had the fundamental contribution of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), primarily responsible for vaccine production in Brazil. However, the institution's third quarter-century was also marked by the military dictatorship's attack on science, with the dismissal of ten researchers. A new institutional phase began with the creation of the Fiocruz, who served on public health agencies. Learn more about these historic milestones in the third report of the special series. Timeline: IOC 125 years, which covers the years from 1950 to 1975.
Records of the vaccination campaign that mobilized the country: a woman being vaccinated in São Luís, Maranhão, and a crowd gathered for immunization in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, in 1970. Photos: COC/F Collectioniocruz. Art: João Veras
Smallpox was the first disease to be eradicated on the planet and, to this day, the only one. In Brazil, IOC was largely responsible for producing the vaccine against the disease. The vaccine was an old product, manufactured in the country since the times of the Vaccine Institute, owned by Baron Pedro Affonso, the first director of the IOC. However, production needed to be modernized to cope with the national mass vaccination campaign.
With new equipment purchased through an agreement with PAHO and techniques improved based on experiences from other countries and local research, the IOC began to have two vaccine production lines, using calves and eggs. Field tests confirmed that the products prepared by the Institute were as effective as those from the United States. In nine years, from 1962 to 1971, the IOC produced around 200 million doses of the vaccine. Smallpox was eradicated in Brazil in 1971 and declared globally eradicated in 1980.
Newspapers report on the dismissal of researchers from IOC and the mobilization in favor of scientists, brought together by researcher Herman Lent, author of the book 'The Massacre of Manguinhos'. Photo: COC/F Collectioniocruz. Art: João Veras
On April 1, 1970, based on Institutional Act No. 5 (AI-5), eight researchers from IOC had their political rights revoked by the Military Dictatorship. On April 6, the decree that determined the retirement of the scientists included two more names in the group, bringing the total number of people affected by the 'Manguinhos massacre' to ten.
The following were dismissed: Augusto Perissé, Domingos Arthur Machado, Fernando Braga Ubatuba, Haity Moussatché, Herman Lent, Hugo de Souza Lopes, Masao Goto, Moacyr Vaz de Andrade, Sebastião José de Oliveira and Tito Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti.
O IOC lost 14% of its research staff. What's more, the scientists who were dismissed were leaders of research groups, with over 20 or 30 years of experience. Political persecution extinguished lines of study, affected student training and dismantled biological collections, plunging the IOC in a deep institutional and financial crisis. The episode became known as 'Manguinhos massacre', a term coined by Herman Lent in the book of the same name, released in 1978.
The dismissal of researchers from IOC It took place in a context of attacks by the military dictatorship on science, which included arrests, exiles and the dismantling of universities and scientific institutions. The National Truth Commission estimates that between 800 and XNUMX researchers were persecuted by the regime.
Also known as Castle of Fiocruz, the Moorish Pavilion became the symbol of the institution. Photo: Peter Ilicciev/FiocRuz Images. Art: João Veras
On May 22, 1970, the Human Resources Foundation for Health was transformed into the Oswaldo Cruz Institute Foundation (Fiocruz). The new institution brought together several bodies of the Ministry of Health: the IOC, considered as cellula mater from Fiocruz; the Prophylactic Products Service and the Fernandes Figueira, Evandro Chagas, Leprology and National Rural Endemic Institutes. In 1974, the institution was renamed Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (keeping the acronym Fiocruz).
Initially marked by a lack of resources, the institution's scenario began to change in the second half of the decade, when the meningitis epidemic made clear the country's vulnerability in public health and a new science and technology policy was initiated, which placed the recovery of Manguinhos as a priority.
The following years were marked by the resurgence of science, the return of democracy, and a central role in addressing new public health challenges, such as the arrival of dengue fever and HIV in Brazil. Check it out in next report from the special series 'Timeline: IOC 125 years'.
:: See the main ones bibliographical references consulted for the production of the reports.
Check out other articles about the 125th anniversary of IOC na special page of the Silver Secular Jubilee.
The non-profit reproduction of the text is allowed as long as the source is cited (Comunicação / Instituto Oswaldo Cruz)
 |
 |
